Egyptians Right to the Water of the Nile حق المصريين فى مياه النيل

We the People of Egypt call on the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to respect the applicable rules of international law and not to undertake unilateral measures in regard to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) that could harm Egyptian riparian rights and interests is a testament to the extent to which Ethiopia unilaterally considers its interests not only as superseding, but also superior to, the collective interests of the sovereign country of Egypt.

We request that you abide by the 2015 Agreement on Declaration of Principles (DoP) and not to anoint yourself as the unchallenged and sole beneficiary over the Nile. This is especially apparent in your insistence on filling the GERD unilaterally in July 2020 without reaching an agreement with downstream states, and while holding negotiations on the GERD Hostage to domestic political considerations.

We call on you to affirm your commitment not to commence the filling of the GERD without an agreement, and to accept the agreement prepared by neutral mediators. We also ask you to take into consideration the common values, cultural ties, and bonds of kinship between the Egyptian people and Ethiopian people.

A balanced win-win solution is at hand and the opportunity to chart a new course and redraw the history of the Blue Nile is within our grasp and should be seized for the benefit of over 215 million Egyptians and Ethiopians.to be friends and neighbours better to be enemies forever.

please support and sign this petition

sign here

Support Egypt

نحن المصريون ندعو جمهورية إثيوبيا الفيدرالية الديمقراطية بالالتزام بمبادئ القانون الدولي واجبة التطبيق بخصوص سد النهضة وعدم الإقدام علي أي إجراءات أحادية من شأنها الإضرار بحقوق مصر ومصالحها المائية ما هو إلا إقرار بالمدي الذي باتت إثيوبيا تعتقد أن مصالحها تطغي علي مصالح مصر والتي تسعي إثيوبيا للهيمنة عليها.

نحن نطالب إثيوبيا أن تلتزم ببنود اتفاق إعلان المبادئعن عام ٢٠١٥، حيث إن النهج الإثيوبي يدل علي نية ممارسة الهيمنة علي نهر النيل وتنصب نفسها كمستفيد أوحد من خيراته. وقد تجلي ذلك في إصرار إثيوبيا علي ملء سد النهضة بشكل منفرد في شهر يوليو ٢٠٢٠ دون التوصل لاتفاق مع دول المصب، في محاولة منها لجعل مسار المفاوضات رهينة لاعتبارات سياسية داخلية.

نحن نناشد إثيوبيا وشعبها بالتأكيد علي عدم ملء سد النهضة قبل الوصول إلي اتفاق مع دول المصب، كما ندعو إثيوبيا بالموافقة علي اتفاق ملء سد النهضة وتشغيله الذي أعده الوسطاء المحايدون، وهما الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية بالتنسيق مع البنك الدولي. وأن تأخذ إثيوبيا في اعتبارها الصلات والروابط الحضارية والتاريخية ومراعاة حقوق الجيرة والصداقة عبر الزمان التي تجمع بين الشعب المصري والشعب الإثيوبي.

وختاماً نؤكد أنه مازال أمامنا حل متوازن لموضوع سد النهضة يؤمن المصالح المشتركة لكافة الأطراف ويوفر فرصة تاريخية لكتابة فصل جديد من التعاون بين الدول المشاطئة للنيل الأزرق، وهي الفرصة التي يجب علينا اغتنامها لمصلحة أكثر من ٢١٥ مليون مواطن في مصر وإثيوبيا.فإن نكون أصدقاء وجيران أفضل من أنا نكون أعداء للأبد.

يرجى دعم وتوقيع هذه العريضة

إدعموا بلدكم مصر فى الحصول العادل على حقها فى مياه النيل دون نقصان.

رجاء التوقيع على العريضة الإستطلاعية "المصريون يريدون حقهم فى الحصول على مياه النيل"

وقعوا هنا

حق المصريين فى مياه النيل

'No agreement' as Yemen peace talks end in Geneva

Yemen's Foreign Minister Riad Yassin, right, and Yemen's Minister of Human Rights Ezzedine Al-Asbahi, left, attend the Geneva Consultations on Yemen peace talks between Yemen's warring factions, at the European headquarters of the United Nations, UN, in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, June 15, 2015

Yemen peace talks ended in Geneva on Friday with no agreement, but the United Nations said it was still optimistic a ceasefire could be reached "pretty soon."

"I won't beat around the bush. There was no kind of agreement reached," said the UN's special envoy for Yemen, Mauritanian diplomat Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.

But he hailed "certain positive signs" in his negotiations with the warring factions, adding that both sides seemed to agree on the need for a ceasefire.

"We feel that it requires simply some further consultations and that we can achieve it pretty soon," said Ould Cheikh Ahmed, who will now head to New York to brief UN chief Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council on the discussions, before heading to the region to push forward with new peace efforts.

No date has yet been set for a fresh round of talks, but the UN envoy said he hoped a desperately needed humanitarian pause in the fighting could be put in place before future talks are held.

Yemen has been wracked by conflict between Iran-backed Shia rebels and troops loyal to exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who fled to Saudi Arabia in February.

The rebels have overrun much of the Sunni-majority country and, along with their allies among forces loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, have been the target of Saudi-led air strikes since March.

More than 2,600 people have been killed since then.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon launched the high-stakes Geneva negotiations on Monday with an appeal for a two-week humanitarian truce during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

But the belligerents' positions were so far apart that they did even sit down in the same room, forcing Ould Cheikh Ahmed to shuttle between them for separate consultations.

Yemen's exiled foreign minister blamed the lack of progress on the rebel delegation.

"We really came here with a big hope ... but unfortunately the Houthi delegation did not allow us really to reach real progress as we expected," Yassin told reporters.

The government delegation remained optimistic of a peaceful solution for Yemen "under the umbrella of the UN," he added.

A member of the rebel delegation Yehya Doueid meanwhile said the talks had not lasted long enough.

"The necessary time was not provided (by the UN) to allow these talks to end in an agreement," he told .

Ould Cheikh Ahmed however insisted that just getting the two sides to Geneva had been "a great achievement", as he pledged to intensify his push for peace.

"The Geneva consultations are not the end in themselves, but the launch of a long and arduous path" towards finding a peaceful solution, he said.

As the talks wrapped up Friday, the UN launched an appeal for $1.6 billion (1.4 billion euros) to help millions of people in need in the war-ravaged country.

"I am deliberately raising the alarm about the looming humanitarian catastrophe facing Yemen, where over 21 million Yemenis, 80 percent of the countries population, are in need of some form of aid to meet their basic needs or protect their basic rights today," the UN's new humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brian told reporters.

"These numbers are difficult to comprehend," he said, but insisted " we must not grow numb to the suffering of each and every individual who lies behind them."

Friday's funding appeal will cover aid, including food, water and shelter, to 11.7 million of the most vulnerable people in need through the end of the year.

The appeal was revised up from a combined $1.02 billion (0.9 billion euros) requested in December and April for Yemen.

O'Brian described a nightmare situation in the impoverished country.

"People across the country are struggling to feed themselves and their families and basic services are collapsing in all regions of the country," he warned, pointing out that millions of families have no access to clean water, proper sanitation or health care.

Only about $200 million of the needed cash has so far been received, the UN said.

#UN warns : Millions of Middle East children out of school

Children walk among debris from a damaged school building in the Damascus suburb of Zamalka

More than 12 million children in the Middle East are not being educated despite advances in efforts to expand schooling, the UN children's agency UNICEF said on Wednesday.

The figure does not include children forced from school by the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, who would bring the total not receiving an education to 15 million, the agency said in a new report.

The joint report by UNICEF and UN cultural agency UNESCO's Institute for Statistics praises the "considerable resources and political capital" devoted to expanding education in the Middle East over the last decade.

It notes that "out-of-school rates for primary school children have plummeted, often by as much as half."

"But in recent years, progress has stalled," it says, with 4.3 million primary-aged children and 2.9 million lower secondary-aged children out of school.

An additional 5.1 million children are not getting a year of pre-primary school education, bringing the total number of the region's children out of school to 12.3 million, the report says.

That figure represents around 15 percent of the children in the Middle East who should be receiving pre-primary, primary or secondary education.

The report says a study of nine countries in the region revealed a range of reasons that kept children out of school, including poverty.

In many cases, families could not afford costs associated with schooling, including books and uniforms, or the loss of income from a child who could be put to work.

"In countries where a substantial group of children remain out of school, they are predominantly from the poorest households in rural areas," the report says.

Gender discrimination also remains a factor.

"Girls are undervalued, and since they are not expected to work, their families see no need for them to learn," the report says, adding that early marriage is also an issue in most countries in the region.

Elsewhere, violence is a problem -- either inside schools, or in conflict zones like Syria and Iraq, where millions of children no longer have access to education and schools have been caught up in violence.

The report says keeping children in school once they enrolled was a key problem, with high drop-out rates at most levels in many countries in the region.

It proposes three main recommendations, including a focus on early childhood development (ECD), noting that pre-primary education is an area where the disparity between wealthy and poor children is most stark in the region.

"Levelling the playing field in terms of equal access to ECD is a matter of urgency," it said.

It also urges a cross-sector approach to helping children enter school, pointing out that factors from transportation to health can affect whether a child is enrolled or not.

Finally, it suggests a focus on "retention," ensuring that children are not pushed out of education once they enrol because of factors like corporal punishment or falling behind peers.

It also notes that special attention must be paid to the situation of children caught up in war, "given the recurring character of conflicts" in the region.

"The international community should ensure sufficient funding for education in emergencies and national governments in the region should adopt flexible approaches for accommodating the education needs of conflict-affected children."

Palestinians trapped as jihadists seize most of #Syria camp

This picture taken on Thursday, April. 24, 2014 and provided by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), U.N relief workers with blue helmets and vests stand next of residents of the besieged Palestinian camp of Yarmouk, right, who stand in line to receive aid food distributed by UNRWA, on the southern edge of the Syrian capital Damascus, Syria

Thousands of Palestinian civilians are trapped in Syria's Yarmuk camp, which is besieged by government forces and has been largely overrun by jihadist fighters, an opposition official said Saturday.

The camp in Damascus is now almost completely under the control of the Islamic State group (ISIS) and Al-Qaeda's local branch Al-Nusra Front, a monitoring group said.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA issued an urgent plea for humanitarian access to the area, saying the situation in Yarmuk was a "source of universal shame".

Jihadists from IS first attacked the camp, just seven kilometres (four miles) from central Damascus, on Wednesday.

They were initially repelled by Palestinian forces inside Yarmuk, but have since captured 90 percent of the sprawling area.

"The residents of the camp are between the devil and the deep blue sea," said Ayman Abu Hashem, who heads the Syrian opposition interim government's committee on Palestinian refugees.

"The camp is surrounded by the regime, and inside the forces of IS have almost completely taken over."

Abu Hashem said Palestinian forces from the Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis group, which is loyal to the Palestinian movement Hamas, were effectively encircled by the jihadists.

And he said fears were running high that IS would take revenge in the camp because members of the jihadist group were expelled by residents and fighters last year.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said jihadist forces now controlled 90 percent of Yarmuk, which was once home to 160,000 people, both Syrian and Palestinian.

Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said Al-Nusra fighters were not battling alongside IS forces, but were also not opposing the its advances.

Palestinian officials accused Al-Nusra of facilitating IS's entrance into Yarmuk, where the population has dwindled to just 18,000 residents.

Al-Nusra and IS are largely rivals, despite sharing a similar jihadist ideology, though there have been instances of local cooperation between fighters from the two movements.

Abdel Rahman said at least 18 people had been killed since the fighting in the camp began on Wednesday, six civilians and 12 Palestinian fighters.

Two fighters were beheaded, he said, and photos depicting two decapitated heads purportedly in the camp were circulated by jihadists on social media.

The Observatory also reported government air strikes on the camp, though there was no immediate information on casualties.

Yarmuk's residents have suffered through regular clashes, government shelling and a regime blockade that has caused medical and food shortages.

Syrian forces remain outside the camp, and sources said troops had set up additional checkpoints around Yarmuk after the fighting began.

An agreement last June between the government and rebels, backed by Palestinian factions, led to easing of the blockade.

But humanitarian access has remained limited and was halted completely with the jihadist advance.

On Saturday, UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness described the situation in the camp as "an affront to the humanity of all of us, a source of universal shame".

"The humanitarian actors on the ground, like UNRWA, must have immediate access to bring urgent assistance to civilians," Gunness said.

He urged "moral and diplomatic leadership from the international community" to ensure the protection of civilians.

Palestinian officials in the West Bank and Gaza also called for action, and the Syrian opposition National Coalition urged a safe passage for civilians.

The body called for "urgent intervention" from the Arab League and United Nations "to force the regime to open a safe passage for the safety of civilians".

Officials : #Iraq forces retake government HQ in #Tikrit

A member of the Iraqi security forces carries his weapon as he watches smoke rise from a scene of clashes between the Iraqi army and Islamic State militants in Tikrit March 30, 2015

Iraqi forces have retaken the Salaheddin provincial government headquarters in Tikrit from the Islamic State jihadist group, a significant advance in the battle to recapture the city, officials said Tuesday.

The spokesman for the Badr militia said members of the Popular Mobilisation units -- pro-government paramilitary forces dominated by Iran-backed Shiite militias -- took part in the fighting, after some froze offensive operations last week in response to US-led air strikes.

"Iraqi forces cleared the government complex in Tikrit," an army major general said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"The government buildings have been under our control since last night (Monday)."

It is the most significant advance in Tikrit since pro-government forces launched an operation to retake the city on March 2, their largest since IS led an offensive that overran much of the country's Sunni Arab heartland last June.

Salaheddin Governor Raad al-Juburi confirmed that the government headquarters had been retaken, saying that Iraqi flags now flew over various recaptured buildings in the city.

Badr spokesman Karim al-Nuri also said that the government headquarters was recaptured, and that Popular Mobilisation members fought alongside federal police in the operation.

Key Shiite militia forces said they were halting Tikrit operations when a US-led anti-IS coalition began air strikes in the area after weeks in which Iran was the main foreign partner in the operation.

The coalition strikes started last Wednesday, angering Shiite militiamen who accused Washington of attempting to hijack their victory.

The Pentagon conditioned its intervention on an enhanced role for regular government forces, and on Friday hailed the withdrawal from the fight of "those Shiite militias who are linked to, infiltrated by, (or) otherwise under the influence of Iran".

The coalition said it carried out three strikes in the Tikrit area from Sunday to Monday, in its most recent statement on the operation.

After giving themselves political cover by declaring that they do not want to work with each other, both sides are still taking part in the Tikrit operation.

#UN urges #Syria to release #activisits , #lawyers and others

Jordan's Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid al-Hussein, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights pauses during a news conference at the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva October 16, 2014

The UN human rights chief on Thursday urged the Syrian authorities to release all activists, lawyers and other detainees they have been holding without due process, including some jailed for years.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein estimated that between tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of people have been held at some point in government jails since the first anti-regime protests erupted in Syria nearly four years ago.

"I urge the Syrian Government to immediately release all those who have been jailed for peaceful expression of their views and to ensure that all those detained are accorded their full due process rights," Zeid said in a statement.

He made a special plea for the release of prominent lawyer Mazen Darwish, who was arrested on February 16, 2012 along with Hani Zaitani and Hussein Ghreir, his colleagues at the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM).

"Last month, their trial was postponed for the sixth time with no new hearing date set," Zeid said.

Human rights groups in the last few days also launched a new campaign for the release of Darwish, Zaitani and Ghreir.

"In many cases, people are held incommunicado for weeks or months, in particular by Political Security, State Security, Military Security and Air Force Intelligence branches," Zeid added.

"This is particularly worrying given the Syrian government's record of torture and ill-treatment of detainees, which has been well-documented prior to, and during, the conflict," the high commissioner said.

The anti-government protests that erupted in March 2011 were met by a deadly government crackdown before a civil war broke out.

Zeid's office said militias linked to the government have also abducted activists at checkpoints throughout the country before holding them in their own faclities where they face torture and ill-treatment.

Zeid said detainees who were released reported that they were held in cells of no more than six metres by seven metres (yards) at the Political Security Branch, with up to 55 prisoners per cell and without enough food or medical care.

"They described the use of torture rooms and equipment as well as the extreme cruelty of interrogators," he said.

UN urges Saudi king to halt 'cruel' flogging of blogger

Saudi Arabian editor Raif Badawi

The UN human rights chief on Thursday urged the Saudi king to pardon a blogger sentenced to 10 years jail plus 1,000 lashes, and to review the "cruel" penalty of flogging.

"Flogging is, in my view, at the very least, a form of cruel and inhuman punishment," UN commissioner Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said in a statement.

"Such punishment is prohibited under international human rights law," he added, appealing to King Abdullah "to halt the public flogging by pardoning Mr (Raef) Badawi, and to urgently review this type of extraordinarily harsh penalty".

Badawi received a first instalment of 50 lashes last Friday and is expected to have 20 weekly whipping sessions until his punishment is complete.

The co-founder of the now-banned Saudi Liberal Network, he has been found guilty in a Saudi court of insulting Islam.

His wife Ensaf Haidar, who sought asylum in Canada with her three children after Badawi was jailed in June 2012, has called for his release.

The United States, Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) have denounced the flogging as a horrific form of punishment, saying Badawi was exercising his right to freedom of expression.

Ottawa has also condemned the punishment and called for a pardon.

Arab League to push for new Palestinian UN resolution

The Arab League said on Thursday it will seek to shore up international support for another attempt to obtain a UN resolution on ending Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands.

The decision at a gathering of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo came after Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas asked them for another chance following the UN Security Council's rejection of his last bid in December.

Those at the meeting gave several Arab countries the task of undertaking "the necessary communications and consultations to submit a new Arab proposal to the Security Council," a statement said.

After last month's failed UN bid, the Palestinians were granted a request to join the International Criminal Court, in a move paving the way for them to pursue Israeli leaders for war crimes.

In response, Israel froze the transfer of 106 million euros (about $126 million) in taxes collected on behalf of the Palestinians, and threatened legal counter measures against the Palestinian leadership.

An Arab-backed resolution on ending the Israeli occupation by the end of 2017 was rejected at the Security Council on December 30, with the United States and non-permanent member Australia voting against it.

China, France and Russia were among eight countries that backed the resolution, just one vote short of the nine required for adoption.

Five countries seen as having a more pro-Palestinian stance began their term at the Security Council this month -- Angola, Malaysia, New Zealand, Spain and Venezuela.

#UN asks #Israel to pay #Lebanon $856 million for oil spill

Workers from Byblos town council clean up an oil spill at the harbour of the ancient Phoenician city in central Lebanon on Aug. 20, 2006

Israel was asked by the UN General Assembly on Friday to compensate Lebanon for $856.4 million in oil spill damages it caused during its 2006 war with Hezbollah.

The non-binding vote, which passed 170-6, asks Israel to offer "prompt and adequate compensation" to Lebanon and other countries affected by the oil spill's pollution.

In a statement, Israel condemned the resolution as biased against the nation, Israeli media reported.

The oil spill was caused by Israel's air force when it bombed oil tanks near a coastal Lebanese power plant during the month-long war with Hezbollah fighters.

The attack flooded the Mediterranean coastline with 15,000 tons of oil, according to the United Nations.

The adopted resolution cited $856.4 million (700 million euros) in damages caused by the oil spill, accounting for inflation of October 2007 estimate by the United Nations Secretary General that reported the spill caused $729 million in damage.

Lebanon bore the brunt of the spill, but the Syrian coast and other Mediterranean countries have suffered as well, the UN said.

The oil slick made by the spill "has had serious implications for livelihoods and the economy of Lebanon," the resolution Mentioned .

The UN asked Lebanon to continue clean-up efforts and the international community to increase funding for its environmental restoration.

The US, Australia, Canada and Israel were among the six states that voted against the UN text.